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Retired Nunez Community College Culinary Instructor Chef Ruth Varisco, third from right, poses with the custom chef’s uniform cake made by her former student and current Nunez Culinary Instructor Chef Doyle DeForest, second from right, during A Seat at Chef Ruth’s Table. Proceeds from the retirement party and fundraiser will go toward the newly-established Chef Ruth Varisco Scholarship Fund. Chef Ruth was a culinary instructor at Nunez for more than 30 years. Also pictured are Nunez Culinary Instructor Chef Ronda DeForest, right, and Culinary student Emma Favre, left.
Proceeds from the event will fund the Chef Ruth Varisco Scholarship Fund in perpetuity, commemorating more than 30 years teaching at Nunez
For more than three decades, Chef Ruth Varisco guided Nunez Community College culinary students both in the classroom and in the kitchen, shaping the next generation of culinary professionals. Following her retirement after Spring 2026 Commencement, the college paid tribute to her remarkable career on Oct. 4 with A Seat at Chef Ruth’s Table, a celebration that recognized her more than 30 years of service and impact.
The charity event was presented by the Nunez Community College Foundation, which will use the proceeds to establish the Chef Ruth Varisco Scholarship Fund, ensuring her legacy lives on through future culinary students who benefit from the award. The Nunez Culinary Arts program arranged the event, garnering food and drink donations from friends of the college and providing a broad variety of hors d'oeuvres prepared and served by Nunez Culinary students.
Surrounded by family, friends, former students and former colleagues, Chef Ruth rose from a plush, ornately carved armchair to welcome hugs, congratulations, and well wishes from a long line of guests. Dr. Tina Tinney, Nunez Chancellor, officially introduced Chef Ruth and invited her to address the room.
“I am overwhelmed that this celebration of my life didn’t happen too late,” Chef Ruth said with a smile.
Chef Ruth thanked Chef Ronda DeForest, who joined Nunez Culinary in 2024 to help guide the program alongside Chef Ruth in her final years at Nunez. She also thanked Chef Ronda’s husband, Chef Doyle DeForest, a former student of Chef Ruth’s, who baked a beautiful, three-tier cake in the shape of a chef’s toque and jacket.
Dr. Tinney shared that Chef Ruth had once requested permission to wear a toque, the traditional chef’s hat, during commencement ceremonies, in order to match the regalia worn by her fellow faculty members. “And I wanted to let Chef wear that toque, but sometimes we have to follow rules,” she said. So, in order to replace the traditional white cloth toque, Dr. Tinney presented Chef Ruth with a custom-made black velvet toque that she invited her to wear to graduation every year moving forward.
“It’s like I got my doctorate,” Chef Ruth quipped.
Dr. Tinney compared instructors to architects in her remarks, building on the work of the instructors who came before them, and lauding the foundation built by Chef Ruth. She concluded by leading a toast to Chef Ruth.
“To more than 30 years of teaching, mentoring, and inspiring to high standards, great food, innumerable laughs and countless lives changed. To the students who are succeeding today because you believed in them yesterday. To the students you may never meet who will have an opportunity tomorrow because this scholarship carries your name,” said Dr. Tinney. “Ruth, thank you for choosing us, and for always making sure there was room for one more at your table.”
Guest speakers included former students of Chef Ruth’s who shared stories about her standards and guidance in the classroom. Aritza Garcia, owner of Aritza’s Kitchen in St. Roch Market, shared reflections on Chef Ruth’s influence. The Rev. Kenneth Smith, currently pastor at Our Lady of Lourdes in Violet and former executive chef at Upperline Restaurant in New Orleans, offered an invocation.
“She pushed me because she knew I could do better,” said Garcia. “It took a while for me to understand it, but I appreciate that now.”
The Foundation She Built
Beginning in 1994, Chef Ruth began expanding Nunez’s Culinary program after joining her former student from Delgado Community College, Carmen Bazile, on the faculty. She was enchanted by the natural bounty of St. Bernard Parish, marveling at the variety of waterfowl she would see in the wetlands below while crossing the Green Bridge on her drive in from Metairie each morning. Her appreciation for the local resources extended to the local ingredients at her fingertips.
“Nunez is a special place physically and spiritually,” said Chef Ruth. “It was the motherlode. The greatest tomatoes in the history of tomatoes. The greatest citrus down the road in Plaquemines. The seafood, the fat female crabs! Everything, to me, this was the motherlode.”
Her desire to see Nunez flourish was tested when Hurricane Katrina devastated St. Bernard Parish in 2005. Chef Ruth and her students operated in a temporary classroom and kitchen housed in a triple-wide trailer for more than a decade afterward until the renovated Culinary Café opened in the Kane Building.
Chef Ruth’s unwavering commitment to teaching students the restaurant business was recognized in 2018 when she was named New Orleans Chef of the Year by the American Culinary Federation New Orleans (ACFNO) chapter. Many years prior, it was Chef Ruth who established Nunez’s relationship with the ACFNO, which continues to sponsor scholarships for Nunez Culinary students to this day. She and Bazile also established the King Cake Extravaganza, which celebrated its 32nd year in 2025.
Over the years, Chef Ruth participated in an instructor exchange program that sent her to teach in England for a semester. She and the ACFNO partnered to battle childhood hunger and food insecurity. She traveled to Washington D.C. to advocate for early childhood nutrition funding. She secured scholarship funding from the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience, which also continues to this day.
But her greatest legacy lies in the countless students she has inspired throughout her career, instilling in them not only technical skill, but also a deep commitment to excellence, passion for the craft, and the highest standards of professionalism.
Chef Ronda DeForest reflected on the privilege of working alongside Chef Ruth during her final years at Nunez.
“Chef Ruth built something truly special at Nunez,” said Chef DeForest. “Her standards were high because she cared deeply about her students and wanted them to succeed. Every day, I saw the respect and love her students and graduates have for her. It has been an honor to learn from her, teach beside her, and help carry forward the foundation she spent more than 30 years building.”
To honor her remarkable legacy, the Nunez Community College Foundation is proud to establish the Ruth Varisco Scholarship Fund, ensuring that Chef Ruth's commitment to student success continues for generations to come. This scholarship will provide financial support to aspiring culinary students, helping remove barriers, cultivate talent, and create pathways to rewarding careers.
To donate to Chef Ruth’s scholarship fund, visit Nunez.edu/Foundation.
